Category: Sports

By Akinwale Kasali He never saw it coming, neither was it predicted that he was going to meet his death on the turf where he eke his livelihood. Christian Daghio was knocked unconscious during a fight in Thailand. The 49-year-old, who had won seven world titles during his career, was knocked out twice in the final round of his WBC Asia title fight against Don Parueang last month, reports. After his second knockdown, Daghio was immediately treated by medical staff inside the ring but didn’t get up. The Italian had…

Death is no doubt a necessary end. But it reminds the living of his/her own mortality. No one predicted that it would be end of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. Even the sky gazers never knew Vichai would be the world farewell so soon. The author of Leicester City’s Football Fairytale bidded the world farewell in one of the saddest and ugliest circumstances, goal keeper Kasper Schmeichel said, during his speech and tribute to the Thailand business tycoon. the Thai billionaire owner of Leicester City who died after his helicopter crashed outside…

By Akinwale Kasali John Obi Mikel is yet to dorn the green and white jersey since the Super Eagles were booted out at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia at the group stage of the mundial. Since then, Obi is yet to feature for the Gernot Rohr tutored team. Obi ruled himself out of the 2019 African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Seychelles in Victoria and the double header against Libya early this month. Reason for Obi’s absence was that he needed to concetrate more on his club career…

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr believes the sudden resignation of Libya coach Adel Amrouche could motivate their rivals even more ahead of a crucial 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Saturday. Amrouche quit as Libya coach just days before the clash in Uyo, southern Nigeria, over unpaid wages. But German handler Rohr has warned over complacency. “The coach can change, but the players and his assistants are still there, so it won’t be an easy game because they changed the coach,” Rohr said. “Sometimes it’s even more difficult when a…

Barcelona midfielder Arturo Vidal “lacked respect” for his teammates by complaining on social media about not playing enough, the club’s sporting director Pep Segura said Thursday. Chilean international Vidal has started only two games for the Catalan giants since his summer move to the Nou Camp from Bayern Munich. The former Juventus man is up against Croatia’s Ivan Rakitic and Brazilian trio Philippe Coutinho, Arthur and Rafinha for places in a quality-packed Barca midfield. He recently took his frustration out by posting messages on his Instagram account featuring angry or…

Super Eagles’ Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr, has invited Ahmed Musa and 23 other players for this month’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture against Libya. According to the Nigeria Football Federation website, Rohr called up Alex Iwobi, William Ekong and Olaoluwa Aina. All three players missed the 3-0 win over Seychelles in Mahe last month due to injury. Nigeria will host the first leg at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Saturday, 13th October with the return leg scheduled for the 18,000–capacity Stade Taïeb Mhiri in the city of Sfax, Tunisia on…

Luka Modric ended Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s decade-long domination of football’s individual awards by being crowned FIFA’s Best Player of the Year on Monday, AFP reports. The Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder starred for both club and country as Real won a third straight Champions League, and he inspired Croatia to reach the World Cup final for the first time. He beat Ronaldo and Liverpool’s Egypt’s Mohamed Salah to the prize. Modric’s success means Ronaldo remains tied with Messi having won FIFA’s award in different guises five times each. At 33,…

Saido Berahino is at the centre of a legal battle over claims he has fathered a hat-trick of children in less than two months, The Sun reports. The Stoke City striker is named on birth certificates as the father of two of the babies — born on May 30 and July 17. His lawyers are in talks with a friend who claims he is dad of her tot born on July 15. A month later, Berahino, 25, finally found the net after 913 days — but he’s still fathered more…

Gianni Infantino, President of World Football ruling body, FIFA has sent a congratulatory message to Amaju Pinnick on his re-election as the President of the Nigeria Football Federation. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that in the polls conducted by the NFF Electoral Committee in Katsina, Pinnick swept aside three other contestants, polling 34 votes. Other contestants, Aminu Maigari got eight votes, with former international, Taiwo Ogunjobi getting only two votes, while there was no votes for club owner Chinedu Okoye. In the letter addressed to the NFF and copied to the…

Former captains Pierre Aubame and Daniel Cousin have been named as co-coaches of Gabon after the dismissal last week of Spaniard Jose Antonio Camacho, the country’s football federation said. Aubame is the father of Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang while Cousin, who was a forward at Rangers and Hull City, previously acted as team manager in charge of logistics. Francois Amegasse, another former national team skipper, takes over Cousin’s role. “We hope these three former captains will transmit their experience to the players,” said a statement from the federation.” Camacho, a…